A BBC Documentary About The London Riots Was Banned By A Judge Who Never Even Watched It

Earlier this week a BBC documentary, titled “The Riots in their own words”, was due to be shown on British television. Then, just hours before it was shown, the documentary was legally blocked from being shown..Who blocked it and why? No one really seems to be able to tell us.

The BBC said in a statement: “A court order has been made that has prevented the BBC from broadcasting the programme ‘The Riots: In their own Words’. We will put it out at a later date….Unfortunately we are unable to add anything further at this stage.”

The Guardian, who, along with LSE, had provided interviews used in the documentary, were also unable to comment: “For legal reasons, the Guardian cannot name the judge who made the ruling, the court in which he is sitting or the case he is presiding over.”

A new Guardian article about the case now appears to be offline too, according to Guardian reporter Josh Holiday. “We were injuncted,” Halliday tweeted.

UPDATE: The Guardian article is now online — the ban was reportedly due to worries that the documentary’s general tone would influence a murder trial in Birmingham (the 8 suspects were acquitted today anyway). The article notes that the judge never actually watched the documentary.